Fairmount Park Commission

1869-1903
13 volumes, no index
Entries are supplementary correspondence and reports, statements of audits and contract proposals referred to in the minutes of the Board.
Location: City Archives, 3101 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104

1868-1871, 1877, 1899, 1912-1917, 1937-1969, 1972-1975, 1977-1978, 1987-1989
53 volumes, index
Report for 1877 covers the years 1872-1877 and improvements made during the first four months of 1878; Reports not published 1878-1898, 1975-1986; Report for 1899 covers improvements made 1877-1899.
For other Annual Reports between 1869-1926, see Office of the Mayor Annual Reports.Location: City Archives, 3101 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104

1870-1916, 1929, 1946-1967, 1983
3 cu.ft.
General correspondence much of which to and from public concerning, chiefly, policies and improvements in regard to parks; also included are a petition from George Catlin regarding his Indian collection; authorization for the Green and Coates Street Passenger Railway Company to enter the park, 1870; office pay roll, January 1877; details of the Perot Lardner legacy, 1882; correspondence relating to automobile traffic in the park, 1914-1916; "Directors for the Planting and Care of Street Trees", 1913, 1914; programs of concerts given in parks, 1929; lists of presidents of the Board and members appointed by courts and ex-officio members with dates and terms; and four stereopticon views of scenes in Fairmount Park including "Approaches to Reservoir", "From North Laurel Hill", "Wissahickon at the Mouth", and "Fairmount Water Works".
Location: City Archives, 3101 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104

1867-ca. 1954
20 cu.ft., index by grantor
Folders for each property acquired for Park include deeds, briefs of title, sheriff's deeds, correspondence, maps, etc.; these often predate creation of Park Commission as many properties acquired by City as park lands prior to that date; some folders contain instruments as early as late 17th century. 2 cubic feet relate to the purchase of the Lansdowne Estate in mid-1860s; 1 cubic foot relates to the purchase of an addition to the Parkway between 21st & 22nd Streets, Winter to Vine Streets.
For similar records see Record Series 63.5 and 63.7Location: City Archives, 3101 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104

1871-1935
1 cu.ft.
Files include published and manuscript materials relating to court cases in which the Fairmount Park Commission is involved directly or indirectly. Some of these court cases relate to property acquisitions, others to particular decisions made by the Commission. Included is material relating to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and the Reading Railroad right-of-ways through Fairmount Park and to the location of gasoline stations along Roosevelt Boulevard. Also included is the "Report of the House of Representatives' Investigation into the Fairmount Park Commission", 1935.
Location: City Archives, 3101 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104

1873-1925
2 volumes, 1 map
Includes "Descriptions of Wissahickon Properties", ca. 1873-1925 - entries list detailed metes and bounds, and grantors' names, of properties acquired for the Wissahickon Creek branch of Fairmount Park; "Plans and Descriptions of Properties Embraced in Revision of Park Boundary Line along Wissahickon Creek", 1896 -entries for each property affected list its owner, metes and bounds, and is accompanied by a plan; "Plan of Wissahickon Valley", July 1896 - this plan, prepared by Russell Thayer, Chief Engineer and Superintendent, and approved by the Committee on Land Purchases, shows properties contiguous to Fairmount Park, and the boundaries thereof and provides an overall view of the properties detailed in the "Plans and Descriptions" above.
Location: City Archives, 3101 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104

1915-1932
1 cu.ft.
Under an Act of Assembly approved 18 June 1915, the Commissioners of Fairmount Park were empowered to purchase Fort Hill and Militia Hill which were the site of Fort Washington in Whitemarsh Township, Montgomery County, and land to connect these hills to Fairmount Park along the Wissahickon Creek. Records include correspondence and title papers to many parcels within the present Fort Washington State Park. Also included is the disbursal journal for the appropriations of 1915, 1917 and 1927.
Location: City Archives, 3101 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104

1872-1914
12 volumes, no index
The Committee on Superintendence and Police was continued as the Committee of Superintendence, see next.Location: City Archives, 3101 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104

1914 - 1930
2 volumes, no index
The Committee of Superintendence replaced the Committee on Superintendence and Police and was, in turn, replaced by the Committee of Superintendence and Property. See next. Location: City Archives, 3101 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104

1930-1936
3 volumes, no index
The Committee of Superintendence and Police replaced the Committee of Superintendence in 1930 and was in turn superceded by the Executive Committee in 1936. See next.Location: City Archives, 3101 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104

1936 - 1949
3 volumes, no index
The Executive Committee is the last in a continuing unbroken line of committees of the Fairmount Park Commissioners beginning with the Committee on Superintendence and Police in 1872. These four bodies should be regarded as a continuing body.Location: City Archives, 3101 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104

1883, 1894 - 1911
2 volumes, no index
Note at the beginning of vol. 1894-1911 indicates that committee minutes of earlier dates are recorded in the Minutes of the Board of Commissioners.Location: City Archives, 3101 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104

28 June 1927 - 18 February 1952
1 volume, no index
A chronological listing of arrests by the Fairmount Park Guard which includes date of arrest; name, address, age, color, marital status, and place of birth of person arrested; charge, name of arresting guard, names of witnesses, disposition of arrest (e.g. waived, discharged, fined, place of detention), and name of magistrate before whom prisoner taken. Entries beginning in January 1946 add time of arrest. Back flyleaf of volume includes numbers of lockers assigned to members of the Guard
Location: City Archives, 3101 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104

1922-1951
1 volume, no index
Includes entries of expenditures of appropriations made from loans, 1922-1930; and expenditures from the Park Fund, 1922-1951. Entries list appropriation item number (if any) and title, date of ordinance authorizing appropriation, amount of appropriation, date of expenditure, warrant number, name of payee, purpose of expenditure, amount, whether payments made for items on contract or open market order, or for payroll and miscellaneous expenditures, and unencumbered balance of appropriation. Entries of expenditures of appropriations made from loans add date of ordinance authorizing loans, election date at which loan approved, date of certification of election result to the Court, and date and amount of any transfers.
Location: City Archives, 3101 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104

ca. 1868-1869
1 map, no index
Map shows properties appropriated for public use by the Act of Assembly approved 14 April 1868. For each property are listed the owner's name, the amount of acreage included in the plot and the plot's metes and bounds. Scale 800 feet to an inch.
Insets show owners of Lansdowne Land Company lots in the 24th Ward, 1868; owners of Mifflin Land Association lots in the 20th Ward; and "Plan of Ground Appropriated for the Preservation of Purity and an Addition to Fairmount Park under an Ordinance Approved 28 June 1864" which identifies buildings built of brick stone or frame.
This map can be used as a guide for locating properties covered in Title Papers, Fairmount Park Property.Location: City Archives, 3101 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104